Mask and the Wack Job
by hummerhouse
Summary: Mask the pit bull, rescued from death by Raphael, is trying to settle into her new home but her master's best friend will take some getting used to. Mask is the OC creation of Teratophelia and used with permission. One shot, rated for language.


Mask and the Wack Job

"Raph! Come on man, I've been waiting in the garage for a half hour," Casey called, stepping out of the elevator. "Lock the dog in your room and let's go!"

"Yeah okay," Raph yelled from somewhere upstairs. "Keep your shirt on."

Casey's mask was down and he took a few practice swipes at the ground with his hockey stick while waiting. His informant had told him where a group of Purple Dragons was going to be at midnight, and Casey didn't want to risk missing them.

He heard a small whine come from directly in front of him and looked up to see Raph and Mask walking towards him.

"Hey, girl," Casey said to the dog that he'd met a week ago. "How ya' doin'?"

With a loud, explosive bark, Mask leaped straight at the tall human. Raph saw her muscles bunch a split second before she jumped and his hand came down on her collar.

Raph's fingers curled under the thick leather of Mask's neck restraint and he yanked backwards when his dog was barely an inch from Casey's groin. Mask's teeth snapped together loudly enough to echo through the lair.

"Holy shit!" Casey shouted, propelling himself backwards.

His feet slipped out from under him and he fell on his back, quickly scrambling to get up and away from the dog. Mask was barking furiously, her lips curled back to show a row of viciously sharp teeth.

"Dammit Raph, what the fuck's wrong with your dog?" Casey asked, his back against the brick wall and the whites of his eyes showing from behind his hockey mask.

Raph himself was too stunned to say anything for a moment. His hold on Mask's collar was the only thing keeping her from tearing his best friend a new one.

She had not reacted this way when Raph first introduced her to Casey; in fact, she'd slobbered all over the bozo, reacting favorably to a voice that was similar to her new masters.

Of course, the hockey mask did sort of make Casey look like some kind of thug and this was the first time Mask had ever seen him wearing it.

"Casey, take the mask off," Raph told him.

It took a minute to register but then Casey reached up to slip his hockey mask onto the top of his head. Mask immediately calmed down; even sitting next to Raph's feet.

"Whoa," Casey breathed out in both wonder and relief. "That's weird."

Mask's tongue lolled out and her tail wagged at the sound of his voice coming from a mask-less face.

Maintaining his tight hold on her collar, Raph said, "Now put it back on."

Casey's hand went up and then he paused. "Ya' got a good hold on her, right?"

"Yeah scaredy-cat," Raph said with a chuckle. "Just do it."

Casey lowered the hockey mask slowly, his eyes focused on Raph's dog. As soon as the mask settled on his face, Mask went crazy again, barking in frustrated fury when she wasn't allowed to get her fangs on him.

Snatching the mask up and off, Casey tossed it onto the ground next to his hockey stick.

Mask settled back on her haunches with a small whine, licking at her lips and looking up at her new master in some confusion.

"What the hell makes her do that?" Casey asked. "I'm the same damn person with or without the stinkin' mask."

"I don't know man," Raph said, shaking his head. "It ain't the mask; she's ignoring it."

Don had walked over to join them, attracted by the sound of Mask's barking.

"I've been doing some reading about pit pulls," Don said. "They aren't normally human aggressive; in other words, they don't randomly attack as a lot of people think. They don't make good guard dogs for that reason. But their temperament can be altered by life experiences, and I think that mask lying there is a good indicator of what Mask's former owner might have done to her."

Raph's eyes narrowed. "So she doesn't like Leo 'cause of his katanas, and she doesn't like seeing somebody walking around with a full mask over their face. Makes ya' think real hard about who her previous owners might have been, don't it?"

Don kneeled down and began scratching behind Mask's ears. "My guess would be the Foot. One of them probably bought into the hype about pit bulls and got her in order to train her as an attack dog. Pit bulls are high energy animals, but as far as aggression goes, they're only that way towards other dogs, not people. They are actually fairly submissive and friendly animals."

"That probably pissed off whoever had her," Casey observed. "They were thinking they'd have a dog that'd tear the seat out of someone's pants, and instead she probably just sat there wagging her tail like she's doing now."

"A pissed off Foot ninja wouldn't think twice about changing her intended career from attack dog to target practice dog," Raph said in a dark tone. "Someday I'm gonna find that joker and let Mask here turn him into a soprano."

"Man, that's what she almost did ta me," Casey said, cupping himself through his jeans. "April sure would have been mad; I think she sorta has her mind set on having a couple of kids."

Both Raph and Don turned to stare at him, their mouths open. Upon realizing what he'd just said, Casey blushed furiously.

"Ya' wanna elaborate on that Case?" Raph asked.

"I didn't know you and April had gotten so serious," Don said with a grin.

"Aw shut up ya' guys," Casey told them. "We're still just dating okay? It's just that we talk about stuff; ya' know, stuff about how we'd like our futures ta be. And mine don't include me being dick-less."

Raph started laughing. "No problem ya' wack job. Just don't traipse around the lair with that hockey mask on your face and this dog won't eat your family jewels."

"Great," Casey leaned over to retrieve his stick and the mask, eyeing Mask as he did so.

She was ignoring him in favor of Donatello, who had found a spot behind her nicked ear that she really enjoyed having scratched.

"Let's go bash some Purple Dragon skulls," Raph said as he released his hold on his dog's collar. "Don, can ya' keep an eye on her for me until I get back?"

"Sure," Don said. "She can sit in the lab with me and watch a video on my laptop."

Mask started to whine as Raph turned to leave. Coming back to her, Raph leaned down and rubbed her face between his hands.

"I'll be back soon girl, go have fun with Uncle Don," he crooned in a soft voice.

Casey was grinning at Raph when he rejoined the human.

"Shit, ya' call me a wack job," Casey said. "Least I ain't treatin' a dog like she's my kid."

Raph punched Casey in the arm. "Keep screwin' with me about it, and I'll be the one making sure ya' sing soprano."

"Ouch," Casey replied, laughing hard as they left the lair.


End file.
